ROYAL VISITS

The Prince of Wales, 1920

When addressing the Imperial War Conference in 1917, and
again at the conference of overseas Prime Ministers the
following year, George V had foreshadowed the visit to the
Dominions of his eldest son (Edward Albert Christian George
Andrew Patrick David, Prince of Wales) “when peace comes”.
The matter was discussed more than once in the ensuing months
until finally, on 3 January 1920, the Secretary of State for
the Colonies cabled the Governor-General confirming an early
visit.

After a week's delay, because of an epidemic on the ship,
the 25-year-old Prince left Portsmouth on 16 March 1920 on
HMS Renown, Britain's newest and biggest battleship,
and arrived at Auckland on 24 April. Remaining at Auckland
until 27 April he then travelled by train – the same train
built in New Zealand for his parents' visit 20 years before –
to Rotorua. It was here that the itinerary was disrupted by a
rail strike. After a Maori reception the Royal party was able
to return to Auckland where, Government House being
unprepared, Prince Edward stayed on Renown until 2
May, by which time some agreement in the dispute had been
reached and the programme could be resumed. To make up for
time thus lost, the Prince gave up a proposed shooting
expedition in the Wairarapa.

The Royal train travelled south to reach Wellington on 5
May, and five days later Renown sailed for Picton
and the South Island section of the tour. Following visits to
Nelson and the West Coast, the Prince reached Christchurch
where he became the first to be presented with the freedom of
the city. The next stage was to Dunedin and it was here that
a hare enlivened proceedings by dashing through the ranks on
parade at Forbury Park. On 20 May the Royal visitor left for
Invercargill, returning to Christchurch the following day.
Early on 22 May he sailed on Renown for
Australia.

A member of the Prince's entourage on this tour was his
friend and cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, flag lieutenant to
Admiral Halsey, the Prince's chief of staff. Later to become
Earl Mountbatten of Burma and to visit the Dominion more than
once as a distinguished visitor, Lord Louis has further links
with New Zealand Royal visits – his younger daughter, Lady
Pamela, accompanied the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, his
nephew, on their tour in 1953–54.

Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

How to cite this page: . 'The Prince of Wales, 1920', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 23-Apr-09URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/royal-visits/page-4